Organized around the theme of celebration, this month-by-month approach emphasizes some of the most important practices of family life. At the beginning of each month, Sonnenberg gives meaningful examples of other people on the road and memorable formulas for relational growth. These are intertwined with Scripture to guide your purpose and keep you on track.
At the end of each chapter Sonnenberg draws from his experience as a family therapist to offer questions and activities that promise to deepen real-life understanding of being a better husband and father. For example, the month of February focuses on celebrating love. The chapter offers a formula to refresh love taken from Revelation 2: remember, repent, and redo. "Suggestions for Husbands" include looking back over wedding pictures together, asking your wife for forgiveness about a specific broken promise, and calling her in the middle of the work day to tell her you've been thinking about her, as you did in your early days of marriage.
"Suggestions for Fathers" play off the suggestions for husbands. They help dads apply the same principles on a kid-friendly level like: "Recall why you named each child as you did. Sit down and explain to them why their names were-and are-special to you," or "Ask your children how you've hurt them over the past week. Don't argue; just listen to what they say. Then ask their forgiveness." Some of the activities may require a change in your perspective. Others may simply deepen what you are already doing for your family.
Although the book lacks the full count of 501 separate suggestions that are promised in the title, there are enough to cover every day of the year. Not a single suggestion is too lofty or romantic or expensive for the average guy to use. Not a single one is too goofy for the average wife or child (even teenagers!) to appreciate. Some key elements that fit into more than one celebration category are reaffirmed periodically, so you can hardly miss opportunities for confession, forgiveness, or an attitude of gratitude--all of which received strong emphasis at recent Promise Keeper events.
In 501 Practical Ways to Love Your Wife and Kids, Sonnenberg teaches men how to ask themselves if they are in fact applying the principles of the Bible to their relationships. The suggestions then become a springboard for their own creativity-training exercises for a home field advantage. Whether men use this book daily or as an occasional resource, this honest-to-goodness approach to family life will make wives and kids the real winners.
Lori Haynes Niles is a frequent reviewer of Christian books who lives in Buffalo, KS.
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